Where does Myles Straw trade rank among the Blue Jays' worst moves of the Atkins era?

July 28, 2019: The Blue Jays receive Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson from the New York Mets in exchange for Marcus Stroman.

To preface this, the deal itself is a good one on paper. Two young pitchers who were highly touted within the Mets system for a guy who was going to be a free agent at the end of the season. Kay was New York's number four prospect and Woods Richardson was ranked sixth.

It’s, again, the optics surrounding the deal that hurt the Blue Jays front office in the public eye.

Trading Stroman, who was 28 at the time, when the team was already thin on the pitching side still remains one of the biggest ‘emotional’ moves that Atkins has made.

Stroman wasn’t shy about the Blue Jays tearing down the team since the winter before the 2017 season, and made it known that he felt the front office should be focused on competing instead. Atkins and Co. clearly didn’t like that. Perhaps they didn't want to be reminded of their shoddy July the year prior.

Yes, Stroman was going to be a free agent, but he had made it clear he was hoping to stay in Toronto…this sounds familiar, doesn’t it? A homegrown star, saying they want to stay, all while an extension never emerges.

Instead of extending him, the Blue Jays traded him (and then flipped one of those players in arguably Atkins’ best move to date). Adding insult to injury, they proceeded to start dealing for arms immediately at the next year's deadline.